Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (Adipec), one of the world’s largest oil and gas events, opened to record crowd with over 18,000 international and regional visitors flooding through its doors on the first day.

Lt General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi crown prince opened the four-day event being held under the patronage of UAE president Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Adipec consistently brings together world leaders, and on the first day proudly welcomed British prime minister Gordon Brown who spoke passionately about current and future world energy demands.

This is the first time a prime minister has ever attended Adipec, said an official of dmg world media, the organisers.

Brown was accompanied by cabinet colleagues Lord Mandelson, secretary of state for business and Ed Miliband, secretary of state for energy and climate change, in addition to a business delegation of senior CEOs representing leading UK companies.

'Brown also addressed the expo’s executive plenary Session on 'Working together to deliver sustainable growth: innovative teams and technology deployment',' he added.

He was joined by BP group chief executive Tony Hayward, along with Malcolm Brinded, executive director, exploration and production, Shell, and Andrew Gould, chairman, Schlumberger.

Speaking on Britain’s close ties with Abu Dhabi, and the long association between oil companies of the two countries, Brown said, “This (Adipec) conference comes at a defining moment for the global economy. The decisions we take over the coming weeks and months will shape our world for a generation.”

“I am delighted that Shell and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company have today signed a memorandum of understanding to evaluate potential joint exploration, development and production of offshore deep gas field prospects in Abu Dhabi.'

'And today we will sign a memorandum of understanding with the Abu Dhabi future energy company Masdar, to work in partnership to develop and deploy low carbon technologies,” he disclosed.

'Let us maintain the political courage to continue and deepen the dialogue we have begun here in the gulf to stabilize global oil markets and together build the foundations for a low carbon recovery.'

'And let us make this a time of visionary internationalism, together building the global solutions on which the sustainability of our global economy depends, Brown added.

Adipec is playing host to 1,500 exhibitors who are showcasing the latest technologies, in addition to the strongest conference programme ever featuring 250 top industry speakers,' said the dmg world media official.

'This year's Adipec has broken all previous records. The event takes up the whole space of the newly- opened Adnec with over 55,000sqm of exhibiting space indoors, 18,000sqm concourse area as well as outdoor space, dedicated conferencing space and more than 20 meeting rooms,' he noted.

'The fact that Gordon Brown and his Ministers attended reinforces the growing importance of the event and how valuable it is to countries operating in the oil and gas industry, as well as placing Abu Dhabi as a leading hub for the global energy industry,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service